John Boehner having trouble convincing Texas Republicans to back his debt-limit plan

House Speaker John Boehner’s plan to put his debt-limit plan to a vote today is in jeopardy — and balking Texas Republicans are among the GOP conservatives giving their leader heartburn.

At mid-afternoon, Boehner was telling his lieutenants he still doesn’t have the Republican votes needed to win the showdown vote — and he was twisting as many arms as he could. At the end of the afternoon, the leadership pulled the measure from the House floor and delayed a final vote.

Boehner’s proposal would extend the debt limit and cut spending, but even if it gets the 217 votes needed to pass in the House, it faces some steep obstacles. Even if passed in the House, the bill is expected to die in the Democratic-controlled Senate, where Majority Leader Harry Reid has his own opposing plan. President Barack Obama has also taken a strong stand against Boehner’s plan.

Texas on the Potomac has been trying to pin down the Texas delegation on Boehner’s plan — and we’re finding that a large group of GOP conservatives will not commit to vote with Boehner.

The green check means the representative is backing Boehner and the red X means a “no” vote. You can tell by the large number of blue question marks that a lot of Texas Republicans (up to 14 of them) still haven’t been convinced the support their Speaker. Translation: There’s a lot of Texas arm-twisting going on.

Check here for a more detailed look on members’ views on the debt crisis and information on how to contact your area lawmakers.

-Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston

“Speaker Boehner’s plan is one that will avoid the catastrophe of a default while strenuously opposing any tax increases and implementing massive spending cuts and enforceable spending caps.”

-Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Dallas

“We must act today, approve this bill and balance the budget for our nation and future generations.”

“The Budget Control Act guarantees a vote on the Balanced Budget Amendment, avoids default, rejects calls for tax hikes and cuts more than it raises the debt limit.”

-Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Lewisville

“Speaker Boehner’s plan is called the Budget Control Act of 2011. While I do not believe it is ideal, it is the best plan right now. It will cut spending and will not put our country in a position of further financial destruction. If we look at where we were one year ago when negotiating for cuts, House Republicans have made great progress in seeking cut after cut.”

-Rep. John Carter, R-Round Rock

“It meets his basic criteria that we’ve got to cut the deficit more than we raise the debt ceiling, which it certainly does that.” – press secretary John Stone

-Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio

“I support this legislation because it meets two important goals – it cuts spending by more than it raises the debt ceiling and it doesn’t raise taxes. Tax increases have never created jobs. This is the first battle in a long war on reckless government spending. We must continue to put restraints on future spending. This bill is a step in the right direction though many more steps are needed.”

“The bankruptcy is here, it’s just a matter of how we’re going to pay for it, and I think adding more debt and permitting the Congress to continue to spend is much worse than defaulting by printing money.”

-Rep. Francisco “Quico” Canseco, R-San Antonio

“The people of Texas sent me to Congress to end the out-of-control government spending.”

-Rep. Gene Green, D-Houston

“We need a longer debt extension timeframe to provide stability for our recovering economy than what the Speaker’s bill allowed. I also can’t support the deep cuts in Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid.”

-Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Dallas

“It does not appear likely that I will vote on it unless it is very different from the last one. Something needs to be done to create jobs. Not just kill them. We need a clean debt ceiling vote for the people!”

-Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo

“Economists and investors agree short-term deal has same risks as technical default — a long-term solution is better for markets.”

-Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, D-San Antonio

“A two-phase increase, like what was proposed, is simply one phase too many. It fails to allay the fears of our country defaulting on its obligation and would do permanent harm to our economy. Earlier attempts to privatize Medicare were met with resounding rejection and yet Republicans still threaten to cut safety nets such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid that protect the most vulnerable among us. We need workable solutions to very real problems- not another false-start. We just have too much to lose. The American people and the markets are watching.”